VFX/Animation Group DNEG To Go Public In $1.7 Billion SPAC Deal

deadline.com:

DNEG, the visual effects and animation company behind Dune and many other high-profile productions, is merging with a SPAC called Sports Ventures Acquisition Corp.

in a deal that aims to take the group public with a stock listing on the Nasdaq (symbol DNEG).The combined company will be led by Namit Malhotra, DNEG’s chairman and CEO.The transaction implies a combined company enterprise value of approximately $1.7 billion.DNEG is a leading VFX group that works with Hollywood studios, streaming services and production companies worldwide with operations in North America (Los Angeles, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver), Europe (London) and Asia (Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai and Mumbai).

The two-decade old firm has been awarded six out of the last ten Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects.Formed through the 2014 merger of Prime Focus (founded in 1997) and Double Negative (founded in 1998), DNEG has also focused historically on building close working relationships with filmmakers.“This transaction creates long-term stability for our teams while also allowing us to exploit the tailwinds in the media and entertainment industry and the explosion in demand for content, which are huge growth drivers for our company,” said Malhotra. “I am excited to take the best of everything that makes our company so successful and to use it as a platform on which to build and innovate further.

Leveraging our leading technology stack, DNEG is already making great strides into new growth areas such as gaming and content creation partnerships, and we are perfectly positioned to exploit massive new opportunities in the metaverse and the convergence of all forms of content creation.”MORENew and returning series on broadcast, cable and streamingSeries